In a big change, the NCAA has cut its Division I transfer portal window. Players now have just 15 days - from January 2 to January 16 - to make their switch. Gone is the two-window system that allowed athletes to change schools after seasons wrapped up and again in spring.
Since the portal started in 2018, transfer numbers have exploded. FBS scholarship moves went from 1,561 players in 2018-19 to more than 3,700 in 2023-24.
The rules around coaching changes got stricter too. When schools bring in new head coaches, players now have a 15-day window to enter the portal - half the time they had before. The clock starts when new coaches are hired, not when schools fire their old coaches.
Teams like Virginia Tech, UCLA, and Oklahoma State still follow the old rules, giving players 30 days to choose. The NCAA also dropped the rule that protected eligibility when coaches left during the first month of season.
Back in October 2018, the portal changed everything about how transfers worked. It did away with the old way where athletes had to get school permission and usually waited a year before playing again.
By 2021, athletes could transfer once without sitting out. Three years after that, multiple transfers became okay, as long as grades were good enough.
When setting up transfer windows in 2022, the NCAA took ideas from pro sports. This latest move to January-only transfers tries to make roster planning more organized.
These changes show growing concerns about grades and team stability, while NIL money makes transfer decisions even more complicated.
